CNOTES 2021-2022 NHL TRENDS, NEWS, BEST BETS AND OPINIONS THRU THE PLAYOFFS !

[Cnotes53]

MAY NHL PLAYOFFS BEST BETS & OPINIONS

Date .......................W-L-T.....................%...................Units

05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%...............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0...............25.00%................-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%...............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0..............50.00%.................- 2.25
05/13/2022...............2-4-0..............33.33%.................-13.50
05/12/2022...............6-2-0..............75.00%.................+19.50
05/11/2022...............4-2-0..............66.67%....................+9.00
05/10/2022...............6-1-1..............81.25%..................+20.85
05/09/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%.....................-1.95
05/08/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%....................- 3.10
05/07/2022...............6-2-0...............75.00%.................+17.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+7.85
05/05/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+2.60
05/04/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+8.05
05/03/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+2.25
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%..................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%................+ 5.00

TOTALS...............77-48-2.................61.60%............... +86.25


BEST BETS:

05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%..............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%..............-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%..............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/13/2022...............2-3-0...............40.00%................- 8.40
05/12/2022...............5-2-0...............71.42%...............+14.50
05/11/2022...............2-1-0...............66.66%................+ 4.50
05/10/2022...............5-0-0.............100.00%................+26.70
05/09/2022...............1-4-0...............20.00%................- 16.95
05/08/2022...............4-2-0...............66.66%................+ 9.00
05/07/2022...............5-1-0................83.33%...............+21.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%................+ 7.85
05/04/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%.................- 1.00
05/04/2022...............4-3-0................57.14%.................+2.55
05/03/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..................-1.00
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%.................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%...............+ 5.00

TOTALS...............65-43-1................60.18%................+81.20


UPDATED ON 05/25/2022

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Thursday’s 6-pack
Odds to win NFC East:
— Dallas +110
— Philadelphia +200
— Washington +500
— NJ Giants +700
Odds to win NFC North:
— Green Bay -185
— Minnesota +275
— Chicago +900
— Detroit +1000

Quote of the Day
“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”
Jack Handey

Thursday’s quiz
Where did Aaron Donald play his college football?

Wednesday’s quiz
In the great TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson originally played the Vice President.

Tuesday’s quiz
Bushwood Country Club was where Ted Knight, Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield played golf in the classic movie, Caddyshack.

**********************************

Thursday’s Den: Random thoughts on a spring day……..

I’m going to speak my mind here for a few minutes, because I think it is wrong to shut up at times like these. I don’t belong to a political party, have almost zero interest in politics. I’d much rather watch ballgames or movies, or listen to music. But this has been another bad week.

I don’t remember much about being in 4th grade; it was the first year our classroom was on the second floor instead of the first floor, and my teacher was Mrs Hoen. Other than that, nothing stands out in my memory, which is pretty much how it should be.

Today, there is a school full of kids in Texas who will be traumatized forever by stuff that happened this week; 21 people are dead because an 18-year old took an assault rifle into a classroom and shot a bunch of little kids and their teacher. How does this happen? How?????

I was in the grocery store the other day, and looked around for where the exits are in the back of the store, in case there was ever an episode with a shooter in there. It can happen anywhere. If that is paranoid, so be it, but it never hurts to be prepared.

Our gutless politicians are in the pockets of the NRA, so gun rules won’t change; when people like Jimmy Kimmel and Steve Kerr speak out and make more sense than any politician, you realize that our politicians are freakin’ useless. Only thing they’re good at is lining their own freakin’ pockets. Not good. Not freakin’ good at all.

Only thing we can do is vote these useless politicians out, and hopefully their replacements will be decent people who realize that no one should be queasy about going to the grocery store, or queasy about sending their kids to school.

Other countries don’t have this problem; they have strict gun laws. Why can’t this country do that???? I haven’t heard a decent explanation yet.

On to less important issues……..
— Joe Niekro pitched 22 years in the major leagues, for seven teams; he batted 1,165 times. He hit one home run, on May 29, 1976, in Atlanta— the Braves’ catcher that day was Biff Pocoroba.

Atlanta’s pitcher was Joe’s brother Phil, a Hall of Famer. What are the odds of that?

— Bulls-Pistons are going to play a regular season NBA game in Paris on January 19, 2023.

— Rumor has it that in 2-3 years, the NBA is going to add expansion teams in Seattle/Las Vegas; they’re talking about building a new hotel/casino in Las Vegas, which will also have a new arena for the expansion team.

— This week, Minnesota Timberwolves made former Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly one of the league’s highest-paid executives; $40M for five years that also includes ownership equity.

That is good bank for an executive who is an excellent talent evaluator— he took Nikola Jokić with the 41st pick of the 2014 NBA Draft.

— As of last week, over half (54.7%) of freshmen/sophomores who entered the college basketball transfer portal haven’t found a new school yet. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

— Louisville Cardinals hired alum Milt Wagner as director of player development and alumni relations; it is just a coincidence that Wagner’s grandson DJ is one of the top-ranked recruits in the 2023 class. Go figure.

— Louisville-Kentucky are renewing their basketball rivalry in Rupp Arena on New Year’s Eve.

— Evansville finally hired a new basketball coach; kind of late in the process to do so, but David Ragland is the Purple Aces’ new coach. Ragland went 44-19 in two seasons as a junior college coach 10-12 years ago; he has almost 20 years as a D-I assistant.

Maybe Ragland can go sign up some of those kids in the transfer portal who haven’t found a new home yet.

— In the USFL, QB Shea Patterson was released by the Michigan Panthers and later signed by the New Orleans Breakers; Patterson has thrown for 973 yards — third in the league — four TD’s and five INTs this season— he has also rushed for 171 yards and two TD’s.

— A box seat to the 1955 World Series cost $31. This year, a beer at the PGA golf tournament cost $18.

— Boston 93, Miami 80— Celtics used a 24-2 run in third quarter to take a 3-2 series lead. Heat made only seven of 45 3-point shots.

— Under was 8-4-1 in Wednesday’s baseball games, as hitters continue to struggle.

— Nationals 1, Dodgers 0— Erick Fedde threw six shutout innings for Washington.

— A’s 4, Seattle 2— It is May 25 and the A’s are ahead of Seattle in the standings; never would’ve guessed that, not in a million years. Mariners are a very disappointing team.

— Tampa Bay 5, Miami 4— Rays scored five runs in first inning, hung on for dear life. Rays open a home series with division rival New York tonight.

— Cincinnati 4, Cubs 3— 38-year old Joey Votto hit a homer and a triple; is he the oldest player to do that?

 

[Udog]

NY RANGERS are 16-6 Under (9.4 Units) in road games after covering 2 of their last 3 against the spread in the current season.

EDMONTON is 19-5 ATS (13.5 Units) after a home game where both teams score 3 or more goals over the last 2 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 26

NHL

Thursday, May 26

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NY Rangers @ Carolina
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 6 games when playing on the road against Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Rangers's last 5 games when playing Carolina
Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

Edmonton @ Calgary
Edmonton
Edmonton is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Edmonton is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Edmonton
Calgary is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Edmonton


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Udog]

Rangers are 15-38 in the past 53 playoff games as a 'dog.
Hurricanes are 12-5 in the past 17 games overall.
Hurricanes are 44-16 in the past 60 home games.
Hurricanes are 52-19 in the past 71 games as a favorite.
Hurricanes are 27-8 in the past 35 playoff games as a fave.
Hurricanes are 7-2 in the past nine Conference Semifinal games.
UNDER is 4-0 in the past four games overall for the Rangers.
UNDER is 6-1-1 in the past eight playoff games as a 'dog for the Rangers.
UNDER is 4-0 in the past four games overall for the Hurricanes.
Rangers are 37-18 in the past 55 meetings.
Favorite is 9-2 in the past 11 meetings.
UNDER is 7-2 in the past nine meetings in Raleigh.


Oilers are 26-10 in the past 36 games overall.
Oilers are 8-4 in the past 12 road games.
Flames are 37-20 in the past 57 games overall.
Flames are 25-10 in the past 35 home games.
Flames are 7-2 in the past nine as a home fave.
UNDER is 12-7-2 in the past 21 playoff games as a favorite for the Flames.
Home team is 8-1 in the past nine meetings.
Favorite is 8-1 in the past nine meetings.
Oilers are 2-5 in the past seven trips to Calgary.
OVER is 15-6-1 in the past 22 meetings in Calgary.

 

[Cnotes53]

THURSDAY, MAY 26

NYR at CAR	07:00 PM	CAR -148 U 5.5	+500 +500
EDM at CAL	09:30 PM	CAL -140 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

MAY NHL PLAYOFFS BEST BETS & OPINIONS

Date .......................W-L-T.....................%...................Units

05/26/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..............-2.50
05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%...............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0...............25.00%................-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%...............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0..............50.00%.................- 2.25
05/13/2022...............2-4-0..............33.33%.................-13.50
05/12/2022...............6-2-0..............75.00%.................+19.50
05/11/2022...............4-2-0..............66.67%....................+9.00
05/10/2022...............6-1-1..............81.25%..................+20.85
05/09/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%.....................-1.95
05/08/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%....................- 3.10
05/07/2022...............6-2-0...............75.00%.................+17.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+7.85
05/05/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+2.60
05/04/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+8.05
05/03/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+2.25
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%..................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%................+ 5.00

TOTALS...............79-50-2.................61.24%............... +83.75


BEST BETS:

05/26/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..............-2.50
05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%..............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%..............-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%..............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/13/2022...............2-3-0...............40.00%................- 8.40
05/12/2022...............5-2-0...............71.42%...............+14.50
05/11/2022...............2-1-0...............66.66%................+ 4.50
05/10/2022...............5-0-0.............100.00%................+26.70
05/09/2022...............1-4-0...............20.00%................- 16.95
05/08/2022...............4-2-0...............66.66%................+ 9.00
05/07/2022...............5-1-0................83.33%...............+21.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%................+ 7.85
05/04/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%.................- 1.00
05/04/2022...............4-3-0................57.14%.................+2.55
05/03/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..................-1.00
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%.................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%...............+ 5.00

TOTALS...............67-45-1................59.82%................+78.70


UPDATED ON 05/26/2022

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
Odds to win NFC South:
— Tampa Bay -300
— New Orleans +275
— Carolina +1200
— Atlanta +1600
Odds to win NFC West:
— LA Rams +140
— San Francisco +190
— Arizona +300
— Seattle +1000

Quote of the Day
“Never mess with a civil servant, my friend.”
Lenny Briscoe, Law and Order

Friday’s quiz
Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo all played their college football at the same school; which one?

Thursday’s quiz
Aaron Donald played his college football for the Pitt Panthers.

Wednesday’s quiz
In the great TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson originally played the Vice President.

******************************************

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….

— NFL teams with the most completions LY on passes that went 20+ yards in air:
38— Arizona, Tampa Bay
36— Dallas
34— Minnesota
33— Las Vegas, Seattle
32— Buffalo
31— Green Bay, LA Rams

— NFL teams with the fewest completions LY on passes that went 20+ yards in air:
12— NJ Giants
14— Carolina, Tennessee
16— Detroit
17— San Francisco
19— New Orleans
20— Pittsburgh

Golden State 120, Dallas 110:
— Warriors advance to NBA Finals for sixth time in eight years.
— Golden State led this game 69-52 at halftime.
— Klay Thompson was 8-16 on arc, scored 32 points.

— The father of Cincinnati Reds’ rookie P Hunter Greene is a private investigator with some famous clients, one of whom was lawyer Johnnie Cochran, who became famous during the OJ Simpson trial in the 90’s.

— Been quite a while since I’ve seen a movie promoted as hard as this new Top Gun movie is being pumped up; its been 36 years since the original Top Gun came out, which makes me feel old(er).

— Boston Celtics are 6-3 in road playoff games this season; over the previous ten years, Boston was 12-27 in road playoff games.

USFL Week 7 notes:

New Jersey vs Tampa Bay
New Jersey Generals (5-1)
— Won last five games, scoring 24.5 ppg in last four.
— Have only four takeaways, have minus-2 turnover ratio.
— Outscored last four foes 50-22 in second half.
— Last three games went over the total.

Tampa Bay Bandits (3-3)
— Scored 27-28 points last two games (19.3 ppg in first four)
— Minus-7 in turnovers— have only three takeaways.
— Three of last four games went over total.
— Scoring 11.8 ppg in first half, 6.8 ppg in second half.

Michigan vs New Orleans
Michigan Panthers (1-5)
— Last three games, they’re minus-6 in turnovers, giving up 28.7 ppg.
— 0-3 in games decided by 5 or fewer points.
— Outgained four of their six opponents.
— Their only win was 24-0 over 1-5 Pittsburgh.

New Orleans Breakers (4-2)
— Scored 23+ points in their wins, 13-17 in losses.
— Last three games went over the total
— Last three weeks, ran ball for 137.3 yards/game.
— Trailed three of last four games at halftime.

Birmingham vs Pittsburgh
Birmingham Stallions (6-0)
— Trailed at halftime in four of six games
— Outscored opponents 98-34 in second half.
— Outrushed last three foes 456-206
— 6-0 against spread

Pittsburgh Maulers (1-5)
— Have been outscored 88-32 in first half of games.
— Last four weeks, allowed 165 rushing yards/game.
— Four of their last five games went over total.
— All five losses are by 7+ points.

Houston vs Philadelphia
Houston Gamblers (1-5)
— Lost last five games, last three all in last 0:05.
— Led all six games at halftime
— Last five games went over total
— Outscored 85=32 in second half.

Philadelphia Stars (3-3)
— Last three weeks, they’re +5 in turnovers.
— Gave up 23+ points in all six games (over 4-1 last five).
— Have been outgained in every game (1-4-1 ATS).
— Scored 30-26-35 points in wins; 17-16-17 in losses.

— Reds 20, Cubs 5— Cincinnati SS Farmer homered twice, knocked in five runs, also had a sac bunt; not often a guy has a sac bunt and two homers in the same game.

— Portland Trailblazers hired Mike Schmitz as an assistant GM; he had been on ESPN for few years, traveling all over the world to evaluate talent for the NBA Draft.

— Rangers 4, A’s 1:
Good news for the A’s; they’re 14-6 if they score 4+ runs.
Bad news for the A’s: they’ve scored 4+ runs in only 20 of 47 games; they’re 5-22 when they score fewer than four runs.

— MLB and the players’ union are allowing teams to still have an additional pitcher through June 19; it is looking more and more like the 14-pitcher thing might last the whole season.

— Tigers 4, Guardians 3— Miguel Cabrera went 3-4, had a walk-off single.

— Reds 20, Cubs 5…….Red Sox 16, White Sox 7— Rough day in Chicago; they both get Friday off, before playing each other Saturday-Sunday on the South side.

 

[Udog]

COLORADO is 8-1 Over (6.9 Units) in road games as a # 1 seed in the playoffs over the last 2 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Friday, May 27

NHL

Friday, May 27

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colorado @ St. Louis
Colorado
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing on the road against St. Louis
St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 5 of St. Louis's last 5 games when playing at home against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 9 of St. Louis's last 11 games when playing Colorado


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Avalanche are 51-19 in the past 70 games overall.
Avalanche are 4-0 in the past four road games.
Avalanche are 7-2 in the past nine playoff games as a fave.
Avalanche are 9-19 in the past 28 Conference Semifinal games.
Blues are 18-8 in the past 26 games overall.
Blues are 2-5 in the past seven home games.
Blues are 4-10 in the past 14 playoff games as an underdog.
OVER is 5-2 in the past seven for the Avalanche.
OVER is 4-0 in the past four road games for the Avs.
OVER is 8-3 in the past 11 as a favorite for the Avs.
OVER is 25-11-1 in the past 37 for the Blues.
OVER is 7-3 in the past 10 home games for the Blues.
OVER is 34-14-3 in the past 51 as a 'dog for the Blues.
Road team has cashed in four straight meetings.
OVER is 9-2 in the past 11 meetings.
Avalanche are 5-0 in the past five in St. Louis.

 

[Cnotes53]

FRIDAY, MAY 27

COL at STL	08:00 PM	COL -161 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

MAY NHL PLAYOFFS BEST BETS & OPINIONS

Date .......................W-L-T.....................%...................Units

05/27/2022...............2-0-0...............100.00%............+10.00
05/26/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..............-2.50
05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%...............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0...............25.00%................-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%...............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0..............50.00%.................- 2.25
05/13/2022...............2-4-0..............33.33%.................-13.50
05/12/2022...............6-2-0..............75.00%.................+19.50
05/11/2022...............4-2-0..............66.67%....................+9.00
05/10/2022...............6-1-1..............81.25%..................+20.85
05/09/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%.....................-1.95
05/08/2022...............4-4-0..............50.00%....................- 3.10
05/07/2022...............6-2-0...............75.00%.................+17.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+7.85
05/05/2022...............5-3-0...............62.50%...................+2.60
05/04/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+8.05
05/03/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%..................+2.25
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%..................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%................+ 5.00

TOTALS...............81-50-2.................61.83%............... +93.75


BEST BETS:

05/27/2022...............2-0-0...............100.00%............+10.00
05/26/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..............-2.50
05/25/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-7.15
05/24/2022...............3-1-0................75.00%..............+9.50
05/23/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............-0.50
05/22/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/21/2022...............1-1-0................50.00%...............+0.00
05/20/2022...............4-0-0..............100.00%..............+ 22.45
05/19/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%...............-10.10
05/18/2022...............3-1-0...............75.00%................+ 9.50
05/17/2022...............1-3-0................25.00%..............-13.85
05/15/2022...............3-0-1..............100.00%..............+15.00
05/14/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%...............-1.50
05/13/2022...............2-3-0...............40.00%................- 8.40
05/12/2022...............5-2-0...............71.42%...............+14.50
05/11/2022...............2-1-0...............66.66%................+ 4.50
05/10/2022...............5-0-0.............100.00%................+26.70
05/09/2022...............1-4-0...............20.00%................- 16.95
05/08/2022...............4-2-0...............66.66%................+ 9.00
05/07/2022...............5-1-0................83.33%...............+21.60
05/06/2022...............5-3-0................62.50%................+ 7.85
05/04/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%.................- 1.00
05/04/2022...............4-3-0................57.14%.................+2.55
05/03/2022...............2-2-0................50.00%..................-1.00
05/02/2022...............3-3-0................50.00%.................- 5.50
05/01/2022...............1-0-0.............. 100.00%...............+ 5.00

TOTALS...............69-45-1................60.52%................+88.70


UPDATED ON 05/27/2022

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in batting average (min 100 AB’s):
.379— JD Martinez, Bos
.363— Tim Anderson, CWS
.357— Manny Machado, SD
.354— Taylor Ward, LAA
.353— Manuel Margot, TB
.349— Luis Arraez, Minn

Quote of the Day
“Jimmy Butler’s competitive will is as high as anyone.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; what was the team’s name when they played in Seattle?

Friday’s quiz
Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo all played their college football at the same school; Eastern Illinois.

Thursday’s quiz
Aaron Donald played his college football for the Pitt Panthers.

************************************

Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….

13) Miami 111. Boston 103— Jimmy Butler played a GREAT game, scoring 47 points, with nine rebounds, eight assists. Game 7 is Sunday night in Miami.

Boston’s Al Horford has played in 140 playoff games without ever playing in the NBA Finals, most of any player without making the Finals. That can all change Sunday.

12) Los Angeles Lakers named 48-year old Darwin Ham as their new coach; Ham has been an assistant in the NBA for 11 years, most recently with Milwaukee (they won the title last year).

Ham played in the NBA for seven years, won a title with the 2004 Pistons. This will be the first time he is a head coach. His mother used to be mayor of Saginaw, Michigan.

11) Last three years, first half under is 55-21-1, in Eastern Conference playoff games in Games 3-7 of a series. Teams get to know each other’s plays so well, the deeper you get into a series, the harder it is to score— very few easy baskets.

10) Cardinals 4, Brewers 2— St Louis is using pitch-com more; they’re trying to get Dakota Hudson to work faster when he is on the mound- they think it’ll help both his pitching and their team’s fielding behind him.

In this game, Hudson threw 97 pitches in only 4.2 IP, but he didn’t allow any runs.

9) Atlanta Braves’ TV Friday night, Chip Caray/Jeff Francouer broadcast the game from the bleachers in right-center field, which is pretty cool. They’re a good broadcast team.

Chip Caray is Skip Caray’s son, Harry Caray’s grandson, but he isn’t funny like they were. He has made himself into a good broadcaster; upbeat, prepared, fun to listen to. He’s worked very hard at his job; tough to follow in the footsteps of his famous relatives, but he is doing it well.

8) I enjoy fantasy baseball (except for weeks when my team gets killed, like this week) so this is interesting to me. Bryce Harper can’t play the field because he can’t throw— his elbow is messed up— he DH’s every day, but that means JT Realmuto can’t DH when he doesn’t catch.

So if you have Realmuto on your fantasy team, you’re losing 20-25 games where Realmuto would likely be the DH- lot of at-bats. If there was no DH, Harper wouldn’t even be playing.

7) Coming into Friday’s baseball, San Francisco Giants’ hitters in the Blogs spot in the order were hitting a combined .166, with only 8 RBI, which is terrible.

6) Last weekend, Josh Donaldson got int a kerfuffle with Chicago’s Tim Anderson; MLB said he was suspended for a game. Then he missed a game with COVID. Now he has a bad shoulder.

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d suggest his suspension might’ve been longer than one game, they just don’t want to make a big deal out of it.

5) Mariners 6, Astros 1— Both starting pitchers faced 30 batters in this game, which almost never happens these days. Pitchers seldom face the same batter four times in a game, but three batters on each team did it in this game. Unusual.

4) Orioles 12, Red Sox 8— Boston led 8-2 after six innings; their bullpen imploded. This game was 6-0 in second inning.

3) Reds 5, Giants 1— San Francisco reliever Jake McGee wasn’t allowed to pitch in this game, because his name wasn’t listed on the Giants’ lineup card, which is given to umpires.

Whoops.

2) In the NL East, New York has a 7.5-game lead.
In the AL East, New York has a 6.5-game lead.

Think the TV networks that show postseason games are excited about this?

1) There was an ad in a San Antonio newspaper Friday, which said “The summer sale you WON’T want to miss” The sale is for all kinds of rifles, all weekend long, a few days after 19 kids were murdered in a 4th grade classroom, two hours west of San Antonio.

What is wrong with people; why do they need all these assault rifles?

Remind me never to go to Texas again. Ever.

 

[Udog]

CAROLINA is 12-21 ATS (-11.1 Units) in road games after playing a game where 4 or fewer total goals were scored in the last 3 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, May 28

NHL

Saturday, May 28

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carolina @ NY Rangers
Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 5 games
NY Rangers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Hurricanes are 13-5 in the past 18 games.
Hurricanes are 0-5 in the past five road games.
Hurricanes are 0-5 in the past five as an underdog.
Hurricanes are 6-21 in the past 27 playoff games as a 'dog.
Rangers are 5-2 in the past seven games overall.
Rangers are 41-20 in the past 61 home games.
Rangers are 39-13 in the past 52 as a favorite.
Rangers are 35-16 in the past 51 as a home favorite.
UNDER is 6-0 in the past six games overall for the Canes.
OVER is 10-4-1 in the past 15 road games for the Canes.
UNDER is 5-0 in the past five on a day of rest for the Canes.
UNDER is 5-0 in the past five games for the Rangers.
UNDER is 22-8-9 in the past 39 Conference Semifinal games for the Rangers.
OVER is 9-3 in the past 12 as a favorite for the Rangers.
OVER is 9-2-2 in the past 13 playoff games as a fave for the Rangers.
Hurricanes are 6-20 in the past 26 trips to MSG.
UNDER is 5-0 in the past five meetings.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in ERA, minimum 45 IP:
1.60— Martin Perez, Tex
1.70— Nestor Cortes, NYY
1.77— Alek Manoah, Tor
1.80— Tony Gonsolin, LA
1.86— Joe Musgrove, SD
1.96— Miles Mikolas, StL

Quote of the Day
“I saw a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. Number two was death. This means to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
Jerry Seinfeld

Sunday’s quiz
Before they moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes, where did the NHL team play its home games?

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; they were the Seattle Pilots for that one season, before moving to Milwaukee.

Friday’s quiz
Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo all played their college football at the same school; Eastern Illinois.

***************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) There is a Twitter account called Umpire Scorecards which grades the home plate umpire after every game; it shows where they missed calls, what %age they missed and which team was helped by those calls.

Friday night in Cincinnati, in a game whose start was delayed by rain, Hunter Wendelstedt had the plate. Of the 108 pitches he called balls, only two were strikes. That is very good. Of the 51 pitches he called strikes, 12 were actually balls, mostly borderline high pitches. No bueno.

76% accuracy on called strikes isn’t good; when robot umpires become a thing in a couple years, stuff like this won’t happen anymore. I’m not in favor of robot umpires, but they’re going to be a real thing fairly soon.

12) New Orleans 31, Michigan 27 OT
— First-ever overtime game in the new USFL.
— They use a 2-point conversion shootout for overtime games; Breakers converted both of theirs, Michigan went 0-2.
— New Orleans is 4-3, Michigan 1-6, with five losses by 7 or less points.
— Michigan’s kicker made a 60-yard field goal; they lost a game earlier this season when a different kicker missed a 21-yard kick at the gun that would’ve won the game.

11) New Jersey 20, Tampa Bay 13— Generals clinch a playoff berth; Tampa Bay didn’t score a TD in any of their three red zone drives. Bandits were minus-3 in turnovers, are minus-10 for the season. Thats a losing number in any league.

10) FS1 showed a picture from 1991, when TV analyst/former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was playing QB for the San Antonio Riders in the World League of American Football. His coach was Mike Riley, who is currently the New Jersey Generals’ coach.

Garrett spoke very highly of Riley, who has had an interesting career in almost every pro football league there has been, plus a couple college leagues— he is Oregon State’s all-time winningest coach.

9) Reds’ OF Tommy Pham and Giants’ OF Joc Pederson got into a pre-game scuffle Friday; now Pham has been suspended for three games. Apparently the dispute was over a fantasy football league they were in last fall; there was an actual dispute about putting a player on injured reserve and well…..you would think this wouldn’t result in a fight, but it did.

Two rich guys in a fantasy football league; there must’ve been lot of money at stake for things to carry over to May of the next year, but now Pham loses $111,111 for his three-game suspension, making it a very expensive fantasy football season.

8) They were talking on couple of different ballgames Saturday how catchers who use pitch-com are putting it on their knee pad instead of their wrist. Teams are paranoid that signs could still be stolen by seeing where the catchers presses the key pad, if it was on his wrist.

7) Someone kept track of this at a Tigers-Guardians game this week; they used a total of 115 baseballs in that game.

6) UCLA 25, Oregon State 22 (10)— Bruins tied game with nine runs in bottom of 9th inning in this Pac-12 tournament game, then won it in extra innings.

— This is the first year the Pac-12 has a postseason baseball tournament.
— Game lasted 5:44
— Kid on UCLA had seven RBI and he didn’t start.
— Beavers later beat UCLA 8-7 in another game, eliminating the Bruins from the double elimination event- they play Stanford for the conference title Sunday night on ESPN2.

5) Red Sox 5, Orioles 3— This was Nathan Eovaldi’s 211th career start; it was his first complete game. By way of comparison, Greg Maddux threw 109 complete games, Rick Langford 85. No one throws complete games anymore.

Last time a pitcher threw consecutive complete games? Corey Kluber, in 2017.

4) Golden State is 21-4 in playoff series since Steph Curry has been on the team; they’re 89-39 (.695) in playoff games in the Curry era, the best playoff winning %age of any MVP in NBA history.

3) NY Rangers 5, Carolina 2:
— Carolina is 7-0 at home in the playoffs, 0-6 on the road.
— First five games in this series stayed under the total; this one went over.
— Game 7 is Monday night in Raleigh.

2) Someone posted a picture on Twitter of a Pistons-Cavaliers game from 2004, when Lebron James scored 43 points. The guy guarding James in the picture was Darvin Ham, who is now going to be Lebron’s coach with the Lakers.

1) Former Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter not only transferred away from the Cyclones, he bolted to Texas, a conference rival of Iowa State’s. He was the best available transfer out there; big loss for Iowa State.

Other schools trying to poach Hunter were Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, Tennessee; last year, Purdue was one of the few top 50 programs that didn’t poach any transfers.

This is where college basketball is headed, free agency. It is what it is, even if it does suck.

 

[Udog]

No games today.... playoffs resume tomorrow.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
Where the USFL’s starting QB’s went to college:
— Birmingham, J’Mar Smith— Louisiana Tech
— Houston, Clayton Thorson— Northwestern
— Michigan, Josh Love— San Jose State
— New Jersey, Luis Perez— Texas A&M- Commerce
— New Orleans, Kyle Sloter— Northern Colorado
— Philadelphia, Case Cookus— Northern Arizona
— Pittsburgh, Vad Lee— James Madison
— Tampa Bay, Jordan Ta’amu— Ole Miss

Quote of the Day
“I feel completely normal. So I think that’s where it’s going to be like, do we push it? Do we not? That’ll be the discussion over the next few days, and when we get on the mound, what is the safest way to go about this?”
Jacob deGrom, talking about his health on Saturday

Monday’s quiz
Who was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs?

Sunday’s quiz
In 1997, Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; they were the Seattle Pilots for that one season, before moving to Milwaukee.

************************

Monday’s Den: Happy Memorial Day

13) Boston 100, Miami 96:
— Boston never trailed, leading 32-17 after first quarter.
— Miami had ball in last 0:10 down two points, but missed a 3-point shot.
— Jimmy Butler played the whole freakin’ game, scoring 35 points.
— Other than Butler/Adebayo, Miami shot 12-43 from floor.
— Celtics advance to meet Golden State in NBA Finals.

12) Over/under for this game was 198, lowest total for a playoff game since Game 7 of the 2018 series between Celtics-Cavaliers.

Since 2015, under is 57-50-1 in NBA playoff games with totals lower than 200.

11) Atlanta Braves promoted outfield prospect Michael Harris from AA to the major leagues this weekend; why do some teams have a prospect skip AAA altogether?

Harris is only 21 years old; he hit .305 in 41 games in the Southern League, but is he ready for the big leagues, and if he struggles at the plate, how will he react to that? Harris is a local kid from the Atlanta area; he made a great catch in centerfield the other day, but hitting has to be a struggle, jumping from AA to facing Sandy Alcantara in his first MLB game.

10) Next season MLB will use a different scheduling format; every big league team will face every other team, so the stars of the game will face every team, and traditional rivals will play each other less than they usually do.

Here’s the problem; baseball SAYS they want more scoring but when hitters see pitchers fewer times, it makes hitting a lot more difficult, and with this schedule, hitters will not see the same pitchers nearly as much as they do now.

9) White Sox star SS Tim Anderson is headed to the injured list after hurting his right leg in the field Sunday; Anderson is hitting .356; he is having an MRI Monday to see how severe the injury is. White Sox are going to miss their leadoff hitter.

8) Birmingham 26, Pittsburgh 16:
— Unbeaten Stallions clinched a playoff berth here.
— Game was 23-16 with 5:00 left; the Pittsburgh coach got upset his QB’s body language during a timeout, and yanked him, putting in a QB the team signed five days ago. Not ideal.
— Pittsburgh also wasted a timeout early in third quarter when they were trying to draw the Stallions offside— they should’ve taken a delay of game, kept their timeout.

7) Philadelphia 35, Houston 24:
— 1-6 Gamblers led 17-13 at halftime; they’ve led every game at halftime.
— Stars outgained Houston 315-200.

6) Giants 6, Reds 4:
— Giants scored six runs in 8th inning, after getting one hit in first six innings.
— Reds had won 29 games in a row when they led from 7th inning on.
— Despite the loss, Cincinnati is 13-9 in its last 22 games, after starting out 3-22.

5) At one point in his career, Sonny Gray went 48 consecutive starts without allowing more than six hits in any start. That is an all-time record, 16 games longer than the second-best streak.

4) 42-year old Rich Hill is pitching for Boston Monday; Red Sox are his 11th team in an interesting 18-year career. Betcha he could write a hell of a book.

3) Odd golf stat: Last time a golfer won a PGA Tour event without getting a birdie in the last round was 2014 in Memphis, when Ben Crane won the Fed Ex Open.

2) Harold Varner was tied for the lead on the 12th hole Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, then his day got ugly; Varner shot +10 on the back nine, wound up tied for 27th.

1) Memorial Day is a day set aside for mourning the military personnel who died while serving our country, protecting us. We’re lucky to live in a democracy where we can do as we please, and our military does a lot of great work, which often goes unappreciated, which isn’t good.

So thank you to all military personnel; you’re doing very important work.

 

[Udog]

NY RANGERS are 32-20 ATS (10 Units) in road games after playing a home game in the last 3 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Monday, May 30

NHL

Monday, May 30

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NY Rangers @ Carolina
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of NY Rangers's last 7 games when playing on the road against Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 6 games when playing Carolina
Carolina
Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Carolina is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against NY Rangers


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Rangers are 1-6 in the past seven road games.
Rangers are 0-6 in the past six as an underdog.
Rangers are 0-5 in the past five as a road 'dog.
Rangers are 14-38 in the past 52 playoff games as a 'dog.
Hurricanes are 13-6 in the past 19 games overall.
Hurricanes are 45-16 in the past 61 home games.
Hurricanes are 28-8 in the past 36 playoff games as a fave.
Hurricanes are 44-14 in the past 58 as a home favorite.
UNDER is 5-1 in the past six games overall for the Rangers.
UNDER is 4-1 in the past five as an underdog for the Rangers.
UNDER is 7-1 in the past eight as a road 'dog for the Rangers.
UNDER is 6-1 in the past seven games overall for the Hurricanes.
UNDER is 4-0 in the past four home games for the Hurricanes.
UNDER is 4-0 in the past four as a favorite for the Hurricanes.
Rangers are 1-6 in the past seven trips to Raleigh.
Home team is 6-0 in the past six meetings.
UNDER is 5-1 in the past six meetings.
UNDER is 4-0 in the past four meetings in Raleigh.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big X football title:
7-4— Oklahoma
2-1— Texas
5-1— Oklahoma State
15-2— Baylor
12-1— Iowa State
14-1— TCU
40-1— Texas Tech, West Virginia
50-1— Kansas State
300-1— Kansas

Quote of the Day
“I can have a conversation and Coach Pederson’s great about that. At every play, he gives you a piece of feedback that another coach might not give you just because he knows what it’s like and it’s something little that he might see that someone else doesn’t see. Having the head coach be able to step in, even today a couple times, three or four times, after a play, he’ll come over and give me a little tip or whatever. Just having a head coach that can do that and really, really knows what he’s talking about is cool.”
Jaguars’ QB Trevor Lawrence

Tuesday’s quiz
Who was the Warriors’ center, last time they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals?

Monday’s quiz
Terry Collins was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs, in 2016.

Sunday’s quiz
In 1997, Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

***************************

Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….

13) Last week or the week before, there was some stuff on social media mocking players of the past, that they could not compare to today’s NBA players. It was disrespectful.

12) There are 48:00 in an NBA game; Sunday night, Jimmy Butler played all 48:00 in Miami’s 100-96 Game 7 loss to Boston. Tremendous effort; the Heat came up just short. People made a big deal out of Butler playing the whole game; doesn’t happen much anymore.

NBA basketball has changed a lot over the years; last ten years or so, it has gotten a lot softer, guys opting out of playing back/back nights. The game has become a lot less physical. On the plus side, shooting has become more fashionable. More passing/less dribbling, which is a good thing. The game is different, for better or worse.

Back in the day, Wilt Chamberlain AVERAGED 45.8 minutes a game for his 13-year career, and that was the regular season. He averaged 47.2 minutes/game in playoff games. His first ten years in the league, he never played less than 72 games in an 82-game season.

11) My point is this: Guys can play major minutes, if they put their minds to it; teams fly around in private jets these days, the accommodations are a lot better now than in previous years.

When Wilt was 32, the 1968-69 season, the Lakers played back/back nights 12 times, but they also played three nights in a row four times, four nights in a row twice. Could you imagine asking one of today’s stars to play a game three nights in a row? No freakin’ chance.

That season, at age 32, Chamberlain averaged 45.3 minutes a game, playing in 81 of 82 games. 20.5 points a game, 21.1 rebounds a game.

Let’s see one of today’s players match those numbers.

10) Get well soon to ESPN’s basketball voice Mike Breen, who tested positive for COVID over the weekend; hopefully he’ll be back behind the mike for the NBA Finals.

9) Rangers beat Carolina 6-2 Monday night, to advance to the NHL’s Final Four; since 2005, under is now 38-25-9 in Game 7 of an NHL playoff series, 4-2 this year.

8) Under is 27-6 in Houston Astros’ last 33 games; they’re getting great pitching and they ain’t hitting so much.

7) Phillies spent lot of $$$ this winter on Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos; they should’ve spent some money on their bullpen. Phillies are 4-9 in games where the winning run scored from the seventh inning on. Not good.

6) Same thing for the Angels, who are 29-16-4 in the first five innings of games, but their overall record is only 27-22. Halos will probably still make the playoffs, but how they going to do once they get there?

5) Texas Rangers’ CF Eli White made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen Monday night, robbing Tampa Bay’s Ji-Man Choi of a home run in left-center field. His glove had to be a couple of feet over the fence; tremendous play.

4) Brewers-Cubs played a doubleheader Monday; first game had both starting pitchers making their major league debut, something that rarely happens this early in a season.

3) Are NFL teams scouting the USFL for kickers? Guy on Michigan made a 60-yard FG last week; guy on Pittsburgh made a 56-yarder.

2) There are point spreads posted for every NFL game this fall; Houston Texans are only team that is an underdog in all 17 of their games. Tampa Bay/Buffalo are either favored/pick ‘em in all of their games.

1) if the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL— Mets-Brewers-Dodgers. Wild Cards: San Diego-St Louis-San Francisco.
AL— New York-Twins-Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Angels

 

[Udog]

EDMONTON is 25-12 ATS (13.3 Units) against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp - 2nd half of the season in the current season.




NHL
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 31

NHL

Tuesday, May 31

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edmonton @ Colorado
Edmonton
Edmonton is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Edmonton is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Colorado
Colorado is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
Colorado is 10-4 SU in its last 14 games at home


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Oilers are 6-1 in the past seven games overall
Oilers are 9-5 in the past 14 road games.
Avalanche are 8-2 in the past 10 playoff games.
Avalanche are 10-4 in the past 14 home games.
Avalanche are 8-2 in the past 10 as a favorite.
OVER is 4-1 in the past five games for the Oilers.
OVER is 3-1 in the pat four games for the Avalanche.
Avalanche are 3-1 in the past four meetings.
Home team is 5-1 in the past six meetings.
Favorite is 5-1 in the past six meetings.
UNDER is 3-1 in the past four meetings.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in runs scored:
50— Mookie Betts, LA
39— Aaron Judge, NYY
38— Rafael Devers, Bos/Tommy Edman, StL
37— Mike Trout, LAA/Francisco Lindor, NYM
35— Manny Machado, SD
34— Freeman LA, Harper Phil, Straw Clev, Ohtani LAA

Quote of the Day
“He barely practiced at Kentucky. Didn’t want to play in games and he didn’t want to play at combine. Who’s advising him? He can’t hide forever. Does he want to play in summer league?”
An unnamed NBA scout, talking about Shaedon Sharpe, who declared for the NBA Draft this week, after not playing at all at Kentucky as a freshman last season

Wednesday’s quiz
Which current major league manager was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Tuesday’s quiz
Wilt Chamberlain was the Warriors’ center, last time they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals, way back in 1964.

Monday’s quiz
Terry Collins was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs, in 2016.

***************************************

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

45 years ago this month, I graduated from high school; long time ago. I’ll start today with a story from back then.

Our high school had a policy for certain classes; if you had a 90 average heading into the final exam, you didn’t have to take the final, you were “exempt”. Kids liked being exempt from finals.

My Sociology teacher was also the football coach, who had moved here from Ohio to take this job, at a school that didn’t have a great football tradition. He had improved the program; we won more than we lost that season, and we also upset the best team in our league, Shenendehowa, the school that current pro athletes Ian Anderson/Kevin Huerter went to.

I was/am a nerd; I helped Mr Gallas, a guidance counselor, do stats for the football team. We did it on the sidelines, each of us with a clipboard— our game with Scotia that year was a rainy mess, you could hardly read our charts when the game ended.

Anyway, Shenendehowa outgained us by a lot, 200+ yards, but we won the turnover battle, scored on a long TD play and we pulled the upset. It was a pretty big deal.

The next Monday, I am told to report to a classroom after school, the room where the football team did their film review— the room was obviously in a very good mood, but I had no idea why I was invited. Then they rolled the tape.

On our long touchdown play, a nerd with a clipboard is running on the sidelines on the bottom of the screen, shaking his fist and jumping up and down with excitement— that was me. Other people were also excited, but I was the only one who ran all the way to the goal line.

We all had a good laugh; by the way, one of our great players on that team played the whole second half that day with a broken wrist. He didn’t get the cast off for five months or so.

So a couple months later, January 1977, and I have a Sociology final; my grade was 87 or so; I trudged off on a cold winter day to take the final.

I was a lazy student; did what I had to do, then went and read the sports section; go figure. I sit down in my seat in the coach’s classroom and get ready to take the final. I had an 87; if I worked a little harder, I could’ve been home sleeping.

The coach walks into the classroom.

He looks at me and says, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take the final”

“Go home, you’re exempt” I started to explain that I had an 87, but he just shook his head and pointed to the door. I didn’t have to be told again; I scooted out of there and walked home, a mile or so on a cold day, realizing that sometimes enthusiasm has its benefits.

— Cleveland Cavaliers named Luke Walton as an assistant coach; Walton has been a head coach for the Lakers, Kings, was an assistant with Golden State when they won the 2015 title.

— Was telling someone this story Tuesday, how in 1979, Magic Johnson’s rookie season, the NBA wasn’t nearly as popular as it is now. The Finals games during the week were broadcast on tape delay, at 11:30 pm, after the local news.

Here in Albany, Scott Murray was the local sports guy; at 11:20, he would say: “I’m about to show the score of tonight’s Laker-76er game. If you’re going to stay up and watch the game, turn your head for 30 seconds, while I show everyone else the score. I’ll tell you when its OK to look again.”

He waited couple of seconds, then held up a board with the score of the game, held it there for 10 seconds or so, then put it down and said “It is OK to look” and the news continued. Five minutes later, they went to the tape delay broadcast of the game.

That is the huge impact that Magic Johnson/Larry Bird had on the NBA; that was the last damn time NBA Finals weren’t shown live.

— Since Steve Kerr has been coach at Golden State, Warriors are 7-9 vs Boston.

— Baylor-Gonzaga are meeting in Sioux Falls, SD on December 2; should be a good game.

— Mets sent Dom Smith down the minors Tuesday, probably to get him at-bats every day so they can trade him for pitching help. Smith is hitting .186 in 39 games this season, but he went 4-4 on a Sunday night couple weeks ago, then sat the next two games.

If Smith were on the A’s or the Pirates, he’d bat third; in 2020, he hit .316 with 42 RBI in 50 games. He is a good hitter who will help the team he gets traded to.

— Lot of times while I am writing late at night, I’ll stream episodes from the old TV show The West Wing on my laptop; picked up a good bit of trivia while listening last night.

There are 54 national parks in America; just thought you’d like to know.

— USFL’s Houston Gamblers have led every game at halftime this season; they’re 1-6.

Birmingham Stallions have been tied or trailed in second half of every game; they’re 7-0.

— Adding to the weirdness of the Tommy Pham/Joc Pederson fantasy football dispute is the knowledge that Mike Trout was the commissioner of the league.

— NL East standings:
33-17— Mets
23-26— Braves
21-29— Phillies
19-27— Marlins
18-33— Nationals

— Mets won their last five games, by a combined score of 44-17; they’re a good team, but the rest of the NL East just sucks.

— Winnipeg 25, Saskatchewan 16— Tuesday night football in the CFL; this game was on ESPN+, if you have that service.

— Colorado 8, Edmonton 6— This was the first playoff game in NHL history where both teams allowed 6+ goals and used multiple goalies.

— Arizona 8, Atlanta 7 (10)— Braves led 6-4 in 8th inning, but Arizona beat up on Atlanta’s bullpen and walked it off on Cooper Hummel’s double down the right field line. Christian Walker went 3-4 with three RBI for Arizona.

— Cubs 8, Brewers 7— Patrick Wisdom’s homer in 8th inning was the difference.

 

[Udog]

NY RANGERS are 8-0 ATS (8 Units) in home games after 3 consecutive division games in the current season.




NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, June 1

NHL

Wednesday, June 1

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Trend Report
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Tampa Bay @ NY Rangers
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
NY Rangers is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing Tampa Bay


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Lightning are 6-0 in the past six games overall.
Lightning are 4-1 in the past six road games.
Lightning are 49-21 in the past 70 as a favorite.
Lightning are 22-8 in the past 30 playoff games as a fave.
Lightning are 42-20 in the past 62 on three or more days of rest.
Rangers are 4-1 in the past five games overall.
Rangers are 42-20 in the past 62 home games.
Rangers are 1-6 in the past seven as an underdog.
Rangers are 6-2 in the past eight as a home 'dog.
UNDER is 5-0 in the past five for the Lightning.
UNDER is 13-6 in the past 19 road games for the Lightning.
UNDER is 6-2-3 in the past 11 Conference Finals games for the Lightning.
UNDER is 5-2 in the past seven for the Rangers.
OVER is 5-2 in the past seven home games for the Rangers.
UNDER is 7-2-1 in the past 10 playoff games as a 'dog for the Rangers.
OVER is 4-0 in the past four as a home 'dog for the Rangers.
Lightning are 1-4 in the past five meetings.
Underdog is 4-1 in the past five meetings.